March 2023

The month starts with a close paring of Venus and Jupiter. Look west as darkness begins. With binoculars you may spot Vesta nearby. In a telescope, Venus is gibbous and Jupiter has little companions called the Galilean moons because Galileo was the first to see them. Venus traverses Pisces the rest of the month, climbing above Jupiter while Jupiter and the constellation head sunward and set earlier each evening.

Jupiter becomes hard to see in the last days of March. It sets soon after the sun. A thin crescent moon passes Jupiter on the 22^nd. The crescent thickens and passes Venus on the 23^rd and 24^th. Mercury, emerging into the evening, appears close to Jupiter on the 27^th and 28^th. They’ll be 1.3° apart. The view will be challenging anywhere on Earth. The pair are close to the horizon when darkness begins. In a telescope, Mercury will appear gibbous. Mercury is slightly easier to see by the 31^st. The messenger planet is at perihelion on the 31^st.

Venus’s journey takes it near Uranus on the 30^th. Binoculars will reveal them 1.2° apart.

Mars begins March ready to pass by Elnath in Auriga as a gibbous moon is entering Gemini ahead of it. The red planet passes Elnath around the 10^th. It’s near the feet of Gemini around the 26^th. It’s passed by a first quarter moon on the 27^th and 28^th. Mars remains a good evening object all month.

The waxing gibbous moon is close to Pollux on the 2^nd. It’s near Regulus on the 5^th. Full moon is on the 7^th. The moon passes Spica on the 10^th. The moon’s approaching last quarter when it passes Antares on the 14^th. Last quarter is the next day. A waning crescent passes Saturn on the 19^th. The ringed planet is in Aquarius and emerging into the morning after conjunction last month. New moon is on the 21^st.

Lunar phases this month: full on the 7^th, last quarter on the 15^th, new on the 21^st, first quarter on the 29^th.

The moon is at apogee at the 3^rd at 405,900 km distance. It’s at perigee on the 19^th at 362,600 km away. A second apogree happens on the 31^st at 405,000 km.

Northern lunistice is on the 1^st at 27.7° from the equator. The moon crosses the equator on the 9^th, reaches southern lunistice on the 15^th at 27.8° from the equator, and crosses the equator again on the 22^nd. The moon reaches northern lunistice again on the 28^th at 27.9°.

The earth is at equinox on the 20^th at 21:25 UT.

The moon passes in front of Venus on the 24^th. It’s a daytime event southern Africa and much of southern Asia. Since Venus is visible in the daytime if you know exactly where to look, viewers in those areas may see a white dot disappear from and reappear in a blue sky. A telescope or binoculars will help. Be careful to keep the instrument from pointing at the sun. Southeastern Asia viewers will see the occultation in the evening.